Exciting tech advances are playing a much greater part in Christmas gifts in New Zealand than ever before, Kriv Naicker, executive director of the New Zealand Internet of Things (IoT) Alliance says.

The NZ IoT Alliance is one of the 15 leading tech organisations in the NZ Tech Alliance.

For those who love Star Wars and R2D2, the pretty cool Littlebits Droid Inventor Kit is one of the most popular IoT gifts people can buy this Christmas. The kit contains a proximity sensor that beams an infrared light that allows it to sense objects in front of it. Pretty cool!

IoT is growing rapidly in New Zealand and presenting exciting opportunities for Kiwi’s, many of which are explained in the 92-page NZ IoT Alliance report released earlier this year, Naicker says.

“A great example of the growth of IoT is the announcement by Chorus yesterday that they are developing a proof of concept IoT network in Takapuna and Torbay on Auckland’s North Shore. Other IoT networks are also being built and tested across New Zealand by the major telecommunications network providers and smaller organisations like KotahiNet.

“This growing network coverage enables sensors to communicate with many IoT devices, such as popular and sought-after Christmas items.

“Typically, an IoT access point in an urban area will give network coverage out to between 1.5km – 3km and around 15km-20km in rural areas. This is how IoT is going to be inextricably linked in our lives from now on.”

Naicker says IoT gadgets are growing in popularity for Christmas presents because they make people’s lives more enjoyable and easier.

“Christmas is a time for good spirit, gift-giving and rare indulgence. But for us and the techies out there, it is also a great time to consider the goodies and gadgets they fancy from Santa this year,” he says.

The gadgets below, available in shops or online, are examples of some of the IoT devices people can gift to friends or family this Christmas:

The Littlebits Droid Inventor Kit
Kiwis are huge fans of the Littlebits Droid Inventor Kit. Once the magic of the droid wears off, the bits can be used to build whatever older kids desire.The Quick Egg Minder
Egg Minder is a smart connected tray which generates notifications when a home is about to go out of eggs. The Internet of Things gadget also helps find out the expiration date of eggs in the tray.The Botvac
The Botvac cleans up to 5000 square feet per cleaning cycle. It gets into corners and close to walls and can be connected through your smartphone. Create a cleaning schedule, and view a summary of where your cleaning robot has been.

The growth of IoT also presents enormous opportunities for New Zealand businesses and farmers to become more efficient. Later in 2018, the IoT Alliance will bring together leading local and international experts to the New Zealand IoT Summit to accelerate the benefits these new technologies can bring.

So at home this Christmas, it might be an IoT robot cleaner, before long the autonomous IoT drones and robots could be making New Zealand farms among the most advanced in the world.